40 Shades of Grey

I finished the top last week, but life got crazy and I didn't get it posted. The quilt is set in a diagonal and with the different size blocks, was like a jigsaw puzzle. Thank goodness a grid was sent to put it together. It took 3 days to assemble.

I put it on my bed for the picture and then I realized that the head was at the foot, so it is upside down, but n you get the idea

The yellow one I am doing a quilt as you go, so it will be awhile before I get it assembed.

Sunday, March 29th - Invitation to participate in a Worldwide Fast for Relief

The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  just released this brief invitation to join a worldwide fast for relief from the Covid - 19 virus.  You can listen to his message here.  It is brief.  The fast is for this Sunday, March 29th.

I would invite everyone of all faiths to join in this spiritual event.  What is a fast you might ask?

1. It begins with prayer.  We tell Heavenly Father we are going to fast and the purpose of the fast.
2. Go without food and water for a minimum of 2 meals, but it can be adapted to your personal health needs.
3. Close your fast with prayer and repeat the purpose of your fast.  Ask for Heavenly Father to blessing you according to His will.

The purpose of going without food is to show Heavenly Father that we are humbling ourselves before him and giving up worldly things.  We show that we are willing to sacrifice something.

We adapt our fast to our personal health needs.  Many people fast for a full day, but we rarely exceed that time frame.  Pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those with special dietary needs will sometimes just join in prayer or adapt.

As we all unite together throughout the world, as one body of people, we will be blessed.

E I E I O...

So, I have literally had this quilt on my living room floor for almost a week.  Last night I had it all completely finished except for two final seams.  I awoke this morning with a new vision of it, as I'll explain in a moment.  This new vision had me picking out many seams this morning for a redo.

I have really wrestled with this project.  It will honestly be the one I will ALWAYS remember as the trial project during a restless time of  all craziness.  Right now it feels like the whole world has kind of turned into a crazy barnyard with many voices clucking, mooing, oinking, meowing, and barking away.  Communication and cooperation is challenged.  This quilt tells that story to me right now. With that said, I do declare that I am very optimistic about the future and am feeling peace in my life.  I do have roller coaster moments of uncertainty, though.  

I want to document the strange things I have seen in this past week including the following:  young moms cannot buy diapers, wipes, and formula for their babies.  Missionaries are coming home.  Temples are closed. Borders are closed. People cannot go to church. No one can buy toilet paper.  Everyone stays home (where possible).  Me, teaching school from my home computer.  Calling neighbors, Grandma & a friend in nursing homes, friends, and family a couple of times a week to check on them.  I have a nephew serving a mission in the very remote Andes of Peru who didn't even know anything was going on in the world and will not be coming home yet.  My parents, sister and brother's families are not allowed to leave their county, and no one is allowed in because they only have two small hospitals.  I am making masks for hospitals and emergency responders.  My aunt is a flight attendant working hard to get stressed and nervous people home - prayers to her health.  My daughter is expected to be admitted to the hospital any day for a several month stay in seclusion.  I hope she and her babies will have the medical help and supplies they need when they need it.  My friend had to be transported over the mountain (2 hour drive) by ambulance from our local hospital to a larger one for surgery this week while her husband followed in his car only to be turned away once he arrived. Oh yeah, and we had a major earthquake in our state last week.  Our airport is still closed due to complications from that.  Personally, I think the airport closure is a blessing.

Just saying...the world is interesting right now.  I don't know about you, but I will really be ok with my old boring life back -- ha ha.  My students are even wanting to come back to school - really?  

In all seriousness, I am doing so so so good.  I have what I need and so much more!

Now, back to the tale of the barnyard...

I think I have decided to make this barnyard quilt into two quilts.  I just couldn't "love" it the way I originally planned it.  It just felt non cohesive no matter what I did with it.

This is what I think I will end up with for one of them.  I am thinking I will make a top border that says E - I- E -I -O.  Wouldn't that be cute?

The photos below show only some of the fabrics I had auditioned for the inner border before I finally settled.

Wide Purple

Cream with a skinny purple border

Batik Blue

Right now I plan to lay out the remaining blocks to see what I can turn them into.  Once I have decided on the second quilt's layout, I will finish sewing this one up. 

15 Min to Stitch Report:

To Do Tuesday:

• Finish the first barnyard top
• Finish the second barnyard top
• Design and sew my Garden Row
• Cut and begin piecing the column sashing for my Arizona quilt.
• Finish assembly of my Alaska quilt

I am also linking up with:

BOM's Away

Monday Making

Wednesday Wait Loss

Midweek Makers

What I Made Monday

Design Wall Monday

A great way to help our communities...first responders...etc...

Here is a great way to help our communities, first responders, and medical staff all from the confines of our homes and fabric stashes.



News Story - mask supplies are low and can be reused IF a homemade one is put over the professional ones.  The professional masks will last much longer which will help with the short supply problems!

How to make a face mask.  I got this from the facebook link in the news story.

I do recommend you find out the guidelines from your local medical community.  Fabric, bias tape instead of elastic, etc... can have specific requests.

This one sounds good too.  This one says, "For a Nurse, by a Nurse".

For this one, scroll down.  I don't trust clicking the PDF download button for fear of computer viruses.  I scrolled down, hit the red print button, and downloaded the file there.  Here is a different mask pattern with no elastics.  I don't know how it fits over a professional mask though.  I do wonder if it could help children not touch their mouth and nose so much...even help us.

I am even thinking of taking scraps and sewing them together to make these.  They don't need to be pretty...just useful!

If nothing else, we can wear them to remind ourselves to not touch our mouth and nose.

One more thing:  Our state govornor has asked for a weekend of prayer.  I am so impressed by this because turning to God is really the answer.  He can stop anything.  He can heal anything.  We just need to ask. We must humble ourselves and have faith in him.  I believe there is power in combined prayer.

I invite all to join in.

Please share!

A redo seal AND theft!

So, I finished all of my blocks yesterday but really really hated the background for my seal.  I am seriously only using my stash for this project, which is why I have different backgrounds in each block.  Well, I didn't have another blue that looked good without duplicating, so I decided on black.  BAD IDEA!  I hated it.

I went back to the stash and decided to duplicate a grey I had already used.  I love it much better!  I do wish I would have made another white seal, but oh well, browny is done.  Yay!  I used the snowflakes in the black print as eyes and nose focal points.  I think I like it...not sure.  Oh well.

Here is the good and bad side by side.  Mr. Whitey will probably end up on the back of my quilt.

This is the layout I have decided on.  Mrs. Owl just has to be front and center!

I am now scraping to get enough sashing from a grey stripe I have.  A little piecing and I think I might actually make it work!

My daughter and her hubby got robbed last night.  It was not essentials...motorcycle helmets, pocket knives, and such.  It is so sad how people's true colors come out during hard times.  They didn't even steal toilet paper - go figure!  I have also heard of people knocking on doors offering to test them for the virus and then robbing them.  Don't open your door to anyone.  There is an illness going around PEOPLE!  

I pray that what little bit of food people have stashed in their homes will be protected from thieves.  

I am linking today with:

Needle and Thread Thursday

Put your Food Down

Earthquake hit Utah this morning & Fox and Muskox - one to go

I cannot believe how close I am to a finished top!  Two more blocks completed with one to go!

To Do Tuesday Report

This week I hope to accomplish the following:

• Finish Alaska quilt top
• Finish Barnyard Batik quilt top
• Prepare applique' for my "Garden Party" design

Below is an update on my task list.  It looks a bit overwhelming, but I am finishing a few things.  The yellow boxes are complete.

5.7 earthquake hit Salt Lake City this morning.  It is the largest earthquake to hit Utah in 28 years.  There are reports of  more than 47,000 without power.  Wow!  Luckily I am not in the earthquake zone, but I have friends and family that are near.  I am so thankful my daughter has not been admitted to the hospital yet with her complicated twin pregnancy.  It is imminent, but doctors are waiting a little longer.  Her little ones will not be allowed to see her at all once she is admitted.  Adults over 18 can only visit one at a time.  It will be an extremely long pregnancy for her, but thankfully the babies are doing ok for now.  Baby B will have to have intestinal surgery right after birth.  I hope the chaos near us will settle down before those babies are born.

For record keeping purposes, I do want to add a tidbit about how the Covid-19 virus is affecting us.  Luckily myself and my husband are still working.  I am a teacher and he is a social worker. We are both working from home, which is not a new thing for him although it certainly is for me.  Lucky for me I teach computer classes and already had my classes running online.  I have really changed very little  in the way I teach.  

Our school district, and possibly many others in the country, are providing free breakfast and lunch to all children ages 0-18.  Breakfast and lunches are put into lunch sacks and distributed via school buses to bus stops in the area.  A family member can come to the bus stop to pick up their lunches.  Granted, we are in a rural area where bus stops do not have swarms of kids at them.  I don't know if this is a federal or state thing, but I would certainly check for such a program in your area. 


As far as running out of things is concerned, we are doing well.  I was able to buy milk today which made me happy. Our church has advised for many many years to have food storage for emergency times.  I have always had a good storage and still do, but it is lower than I would like to have right now.  I will certainly be gradually building it back up after this thing passes.  

I just want to add that my faith in God brings me much peace at this time.  I will rely on him during hard times as well as good times.  I know he knows us personally, by name,  and truly wants to help us.  All we need to do is ask.  If you doubt, just pray.  Exercise faith in that prayer, and he will answer.

I am also linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss

Midweek Makers

What I made Monday

Alaska - Cute little Otters!

Here is my super cute Otter block.  I accidentally turned the stars the opposite direction.  I think I like them though.  They may stay.

I think I am on an Alaskan Marathon!  Now that I have the blocks cut out it is amazing how quickly they come together.  I have finished a couple of stars for the fox block.  Yes the are done even though they look like they are missing a side.  They are supposed to represent the "Northern Lights" of Alaska.

I am linking up with:

Monday Making

BOMs Away

Design Wall Mondays

Barnyard - sharing my friend's quilt as well as my second one...

My friend and I set out on a barnyard Buggy Barn journey last year.  It was so much fun!  We cut blocks out together, and she left them at my house.  We only worked on them together when she came over once or twice a month.

This is how hers turned out!  I love it!

My second one is still in the works for the perfect setting.  This is where I am headed with it.  I hope to get the blocks cut to size this week.  I promise mine will look much better when I get some areas framed in with borders.

15 minutes to stitch report:

PHD report:  No new starts to date!  Yay!  Two quilts nearing a top finished with Alaska completely cut out and three blocks to go and barnyard ready to true and assemble.  I am in hopes of having these two tops finished as well as one more by the end of the month!

I am linking up with:

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

Oh Scrap!

UFO Busting with Tish

What a week!

I hope all of you and yours are doing well through these crazy days.  We are comfortably at home, still employed, and staying healthy.  I am resuming public school online as are most schools in our state.  

I did have to be out of town this week where I spent evenings in my hotel room cutting out the rest of my Alaska blocks.  I have laid them out to show you.  The plan is to get them sewn together over the next few days.

These are my finished ones.

The latest is the whale.  I finished him last night.

Muskox block

Fox block

Seal block is cut.

Otter block

Have a healthy weekend!

I am linking up with:
Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss
Denise's Put Your Foot Down Thursday
Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday
Wendy's Peacock Party
Alycia's Finished or Not Friday

40 Shades of Grey BOM Clamshell Garden

February's blocks are called Clam Shell Garden

These are filler blocks and are all hand appliqued

Next month we had some more filler and piece the blocks together

To Do Tuesday

Lets take a look at my goals from two weeks ago.  I forgot to link up last week.  

• ✔Finish reindeer blocks
• Glue baste some applique'
• ✔Prep my Christmas Tree row for applique'
• A few Princess Aurora sections
• A Feathered Goose Section
• ✔Some machine quilting on my truck quilt - it is completely finished!

This week's goals are:

• Finish my whale block

• Finish Sleeping Beauty
• Finalize my Garden Party Row Along design
• Begin cutting out my sashing strips for the Arizona Quilt.

I am linking up with:

To Do Tuesday
BOM's Away
Wednesday Wait Loss
Midweek Makers
Needle & Thread Thursday

PHD February Report and 15 Minutes to Stitch

I did get a February finish and made some progress.  It is never as much as I hope, but we do have lives beyond quilting.  

I am pleased to say that I have not started any new projects yet this year.  In saying that I must also admit that I plan to.  I have been accepted to be a designer in the Garden Party Row Along hosted by Seams to Be Sew.  I have not designed in some time, and my head is reeling with ideas!  I plan to get a start on it very soon because I will be needed this summer to help my daughter with her new arrivals.

These photos show the fabrics I have selected from my stash.

Below is an update on my PHD report which is also my WOOFA report.  Check out Gail's blog post with may links to a variety of helps in getting our UFOs completed.

The red shows quilts I worked on in February - 8 total.

Thank you Ms P. Designs for this great spreadsheet to keep track of tasks for each UFO.  I started this in February and crossed off a couple of things.  It does look a bit sad right now.

15 Minutes to Stitch Report: